Independence Day

It's the end of a long day and the first time I've ever blogged three times in one day. It's been an exciting time here at Invictus ...


First off the biggest news:

Invictus Nightmare Before Xmas today became Halo's first American Champion! Go Zero go Zero go Zero! Halo celebrated by stealing puppy poop(again) but I think I'll stick to champagne. Big thanks to Erin and Juliet for showing off this handsome man - I'm sure a lot of his competition on the circuit are now happy he's done!

Rio's mom Nikki came to help me take puppies to the vet to get them microchipped. The ordeal is always transporting the puppies from house to truck, truck to vet - my apologies once again to Nikki for trying to shut the truck hatch on her head ...

Speaking of Lady Jazz Hands(more on that another day), she too had to get a microchip because the Avid that she'd been chipped with in the US is not accepted by the CKC. Leeloo is pretty much game for anything most days and today she wandered around the exam room amusing herself until I grabbed her collar, held her head and allowed the vet to inject the microchip. Leeloo's expression went from innocent curiosity to total indignance that some *woman* just stabbed her in the back of the neck. After that Leeloo wanted to LEAVE and NOW and that woman was not allowed to come anywhere near her. The vet fed her a treat and Leeloo(never one to turn down food) ate it with an expression that said "I'll eat your damn cookie but I'm not going to like it."



And thus everyone is now permanently identified. We arrived back home after stopping to pick up some medication for Rio who seemed to have developed a minor bladder infection the past couple days. Once again Amoxocillin to the rescue and she will be right as rain in no time. Will the antibiotics ever end? So Rio headed off with her new mom and a 10 month old German Shepard was going to get a big surprise today.



I put all the puppies to bed and turned around with Missy to head to the airport to ship her off to Yellowknife. She should have just landed and her people will be getting their first look at little Missy in living color. She was thrust into the care of Canadian North Cargo and I headed back again home to a mere 5 puppies.



Bridget left just a short while ago on a long road trip to Kitimat BC. She will be at the exact opposite coast from me and I hear tell there are already plans in the works to get her a lifejacket and go crab fishing or plucking or whatever it is you do to get crabs - the kind you make into crab cakes I mean.



And tomorrow is another big day. Odie, Hunter and Elsa make their way into the world with some great families who are probably not going to sleep tonight. The puppies don't know any different but if they could count they would be currently figuring out subtraction.

Clean Slate

Big day here for the puppies. This morning they got a bath, this afternoon they get microchipped, Missy gets on a plane for Yellowknife, Rio goes to her home here in Calgary, and Bridget gets picked up for a drive to her new home in Kitimat, BC.

I decided to torture the puppies by not only giving them baths but taking pictures of the torture. I started out with Bridget, Missy, and Odie and realized I'd left the camera in the kitchen. However I remembered it for the bathing of Archer, Rio and Elsa. I didn't think I could do 4 at once so I gave Hunter a stay of bathing until the end.

However, he had other ideas and was curious what was happening in the tub. I decided to let him find out. He realized in a hurry that not only is the grass not greener ... it's wetter, soapy, unpleasant and definitely not what he expected.

As quickly as he wanted in the tub, he wanted out. He did that Ridgeback thing where all systems stop, he looks at the water and tries to carefully back away from it. He was stuck in the tub but wasn't going to let that stop him. I'd taken the mat out though so there was no grip to jump and any escapees just slid right back in. Left to right are Archer, Elsa, Hunter and Rio.

At first they tried the very sad eyes and droopy ears but it was all for naught. I am totally unswayed. They got bubbled, rinsed and rubbed dry. Resignation is a beautiful thing sometimes - makes the process that much simpler. They are now all blissfully sleeping off the trauma.

Fly Away Home

I am a mere 24 hours away from being down to 4 puppies. And less than 48 from being down to Archer. I can't express how happy this makes me. This litter has me experiencing flashbacks of the first litter and makes me wonder if I ever actually intend to do this again. Twelve was so much easier than 7 ... not sure why.

I can only imagine that living in my own house, not having neighbours above me, owning the floors they are peeing on, and being able to ignore the noise they make(because I can tune it out but the neighbours likely can't) is going to be priceless.
I am not afraid to admit the puppies have me right at the very tenderhooks of my patience at this point. Let's consider the facts; I am alone therfore all of the work they involve falls directly to my shoulders. I am moving in 4 days and moving, as we all know, is among the most stressful events of your life. I live below people with merely drywall and wood beams between floors. I rent and therefore am responsible at every juncture for any damage they cause.
I am not a bleeding heart breeder who has them out 24/7 because I can't bear to leave the little darlings alone in their room crying their hearts out. I care for the puppies, do the best I can to ensure their health and safety and raise them to the best of my ability. I try to offer them avenues of stimulation such as different surfaces, sounds, exposure to adult dogs to socialize, encourage them to interact with the cats and pay each of them attention in turn. However, I am not swayed by soulful puppy eyes as everyone else seems to be. Tough love baby. I do not accept that a yelling puppy needs to be let out. A yelling puppy gets told to shut the hell up. Door closed and lights out means GO TO SLEEP or play quietly. They are not in danger ... they are just in an expen.
Teaching your puppy good habits is paramount to a sane existence. Falling for the whining, pleading, crying and yelling means they are training YOU. I have started them on the road to habit but it is up to their new homes to carry that tradition forward. 2am whining to go pee is okay for the first week or two but if in month 6, if you are still taking that puppy out to pee you have been trained very well by that dog to cater to it's whims. A 3 month old puppy should be able to sleep through the night (7 hours at least) without soiling its crate. Heck, Leeloo could hold it at 10 weeks.

Sometimes I lose patience with them and let out a roar to which they all cringe and look at each other like "What's with her?" They are fast learners and only take a couple of corrections to think twice about jumping up, chewing on something or whining. They know to run outside and poop right away, they answer, unfailingly, to "Puppy puppy, puppy" in a high pitched voice so teaching their names is super simple; "Puppy puppy Archer. Puppy puppy Archer" gradually eliminating Puppy.

They are smart, sweet, kissy, wrinkly cheerful little blighters and while I look upon each one of them with pride ... they all need their own home. And I need to sleep past 6am.

Fast Track

It's super cute to see the puppies doing adult dog things in little puppy bodies. They have started stalking eaching other from across the yard or down the hall. They definitely aren't as sneaky as they think but they get an 'A' for effort.

The pounce is never well executed and certainly does not contain the element of surprise. It's all about learning to interact with each other and certainly fun for me to watch!

Legally Blonde

Leeloo is the kind of girl who is so exuberant about life that it never occurs to her that anything is worth getting upset about. It's quite a nice change from Halo who is dramatic about everything.

Leeloo is hard to photograph sometimes because she is not much of a poser, she's more of a do-er. While action photos are nice, sometimes you want to capture a moment of calm but she doesn't do much 'look at me' standing and gazing into the distance.

Sometimes I manage to capture a moment where she defines the inner peace people spend a lifetime trying to achieve.

Leeloo makes being pretty an unconscious act. I think that in large part is the key to her charm.

Zulu Dawn

At 7 weeks old the puppies are rolling. They move fast, bite everything, chase whatever moves and yell loud to be let out. It's the final week and it can't go fast enough.
Sure they are adorable and give sweet puppy breath kisses but it comes at a price. The price does not have a monetary value - it has a time of day. At 5:30am this morning I had to make a choice.There are two ways to deal with the yelling at 5:30am - stagger out of bed in a fury, toss them outside in frustration, and sit under my little rain cloud for 45 minutes while they play themselves out.
Or, I can embrace the crisp cool mornings, the birds chirping, the silence of the city and just enjoy the playtime they love so much. Then, after 45 minutes I'll crawl back into bed for a couple more hours. I can do that since I'm unemployed.

So for the next 5 mornings I'll gladly roll out of bed at the butt crack of dawn. After that their new homes get to embrace the wee hours of the morning and you know ... have fun with that.

Back to the Future

At long last Halo is looking much better and feeling like she is herself again - whatever that means. We've been heading to the river the past couple weeks and while she is not as exuberant as usual she is definitely enjoying the time spent in the great outdoors. She's also regained the weight she lost with this litter. As soon as her milk dried up the energy started going to her body and she has filled out quite well. She still has a pound or two to go but at least she doesn't look half starved anymore.


Ah pretty Halo. The foundation of my kennel. She and I have had some moments - you always remember the good times and the bad times fade away. Well, at the very least they make good anecdotes.

She is a smart, calculating, manipulative bitch and everyone should be so lucky to be challenged by such a dog. Okay - maybe lucky is not the right word ...

As Halo and I look to the future I see some agility, perhaps Rally-O, hopefully the opportunity to try for her Herding Instinct test and maybe lure coursing in the US if we get the chance. All Halo wants is treats, sunshine and any chance she can get to piss me off.